Where to for 2020?

It's hard to believe that another year has flown by, it feels like just yesterday that the last blog post came out, only it was almost half a year ago! An update is an absolute must!

2019 has seen U.X.S face many challenges and overcome them all, we have continued to grow at a phenomenal rate, and none of that would have been possible without you guys! From us to you, we thank you humbly for your continued support and faith in our brand and what we do. As the owner, founder and operator of Unconventional X Stitch, I mean every word I say when I thank you all. Without you, I wouldn't have this job, I wouldn't be able to help support my family and whilst many businesses will shy away from the 'small business' labeling I absolutely embrace it, the whole family does. Small means personal and a better level of care, we aren't publicly listed either so our customers are more important than making the shareholders happy, because we don't have any! 

This year saw the kids become more involved, they took on the role of box label gurus with stamps and return address labels being diligently done by the kids, who get paid for their work so they've found their first jobs! How great is that! Hubby also became involved today, doing bits and pieces, so it's really become a big family affair! Something I'm really proud of. 

We have also spent time recognizing the changes that have happened in the cross stitch world. We have become more environmentally aware than ever, not just us but the entire world. From this we have continued to search for better ways of doing things, and waste as little as possible. We continue to use solar power which offsets the power used by the PC and lighting during our work. We have a printer that uses a Continuous Ink System which means no ink cartridges clogging landfill, and we use high capacity ink tanks so even our ink bottles go a long way! We are continuing to look into biodegradable bubble mailers, but so far our sizing requirements aren't there, but trust us we are watching! 

How people stitch has changed a lot, with younger generations continuing to take up the ancient and beautiful art of cross stitch, we've seen a surge in the use of ipads and tablets being used for patterns instead of the traditional print method. For us personally we are still a print kinda stitcher because our eyes suffer a lot at the hands of screens so we need that paper to ease our eyeballs. But in line with those changes, we introduced the 'small grid' and the 'smart' patterns to fit our patterns onto fewer pages. There are also a few apps that are up and coming, and we are working with the developers to get our patterns compatible for easy uploads. The transition of our designs to the new formats takes time, with priority being to the most popular, but if there are any you would like fast tracked don't hesitate to ask! 

Our little black book of ideas is absolutely crammed full of ideas for 2020 which we hope will take off like a bat out of hell and we can't wait to get those into motion.

We also introduced a points based rewards system to the store this year, and that has gone really well with fantastic positive feedback being received about that! It requires no hands on maintenance by anyone so there's no waiting and no faffing, it's clean and simple so that will continue into 2020. 

Needle minder production has evolved a little too, with our rediscovery of the love of painting, so expect to see many more hand painted needle minders next year. We absolutely love doing it, and it's even better when we know they are unique. The market is full of 'handmade' minders that just aren't, they are mass bought in from factories but for us we believe in a more intimate approach. You'll find over 90% of ours are hand crafted, right from the silicone mold to the final spray coats of protecting spray. We've been sharing a lot of the process on Instagram of late to showcase the work that goes into our resin minders in particular, and hope it shows you just how much love and care goes into them and that when you buy from us you are buying something truly hand made.

Well I think that just about covers all of it, we don't think there will be another post before Christmas, so from us to you, have a very merry christmas and a wonderful new year.